Government, Opposition draw budget battle lines

Australians trying to make sense of the budget are caught between the Government and Opposition promoting or bagging Wayne Swan's economic plan.

Transcript

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TONY JONES, PRESENTER: The Government and the Opposition were out in force today, respectively promoting and bagging Wayne Swan's economic plan.

Caught in the middle were average Australians still trying to make sense of it all.

Political correspondent Tom Iggulden reports.

TOM IGGULDEN, REPORTER: An early start for Canberra's senior politicians, doing the rounds of the morning news shows to sell the Budget.

JULIA GILLARD, PRIME MINISTER: Well this is a tough budget. We said it would be, and it is.

TOM IGGULDEN: And to slam it.

TONY ABBOTT, OPPOSITION LEADER: This is lazy, lazy policy.

TOM IGGULDEN: Crossover in the crowded corridors was inevitable, both friend ...

TONY ABBOTT (to Joe Hockey): How are ya mate? Good to see ya.

TOM IGGULDEN: ... and foe.

JULIA GILLARD, PRIME MINISTER: Morning.

TONY ABBOTT (to Julia Gillard): Morning, Prime Minister, how are you?

JULIA GILLARD: I'm good, thank you.

TONY ABBOTT: That's good.

TOM IGGULDEN: Julia Gillard's facing criticism she over-egged the tough talk in the lead-up to her first budget as Prime Minister, which some say delivered only modest cuts.

JULIA GILLARD: Well, and there's been plenty of commentary on the other side too acknowledging that this is a tough budget referring to me as a person with guts. I've seen that commentary too.

TOM IGGULDEN: The Opposition says she's been too tough on families by freezing indexation on some family payments, denying those earning more than $150,000 greater income support.

Joe HOCKEY, SHADOW TREASURER: They're cutting $2 billion out of families, but they're spending an extra $6 billion on foreign aid. It seems confused. The priorities appear to be wrong at this moment.

TOM IGGULDEN: But Tony Abbott's also committed to increasing foreign aid, as Wayne Swan was only too happy to point out.

WAYNE SWAN, TREASURER: To my knowledge so far, that policy of commitment to those goals which is reflected in our spending has bipartisan support. So what you've got is actually another demonstration of the Coalition not knowing where it stands.

TOM IGGULDEN: Senior advisors are urging Tony Abbott and Joe Hockey to get their stories straight.

ARTHUR SINODINOS, FORMER LIBERAL ADVISOR: Well, they should - if there is a difference, they should sort it out pronto.

TOM IGGULDEN: The marketing plan for the budget also took the Treasurer and the Prime Minister to an apprenticeship training centre. A reminder of the Budget's biggest feel-good story, the plan to spend big on growing the number of skilled workers to supply an overheating labour market.

An unfortunate choice of words also brought a reminder of criticism of the depth of last night's cutbacks.

JULIA GILLARD: Oop. Hang on. Fluffy flame.

TOM IGGULDEN: By the time she got to Parliament for Question Time, Julia Gillard was choosing her words more carefully.

JULIA GILLARD: This is a Labor budget through and through.

TOM IGGULDEN: A former foe is calling that label a rookie error and offered some free, if unsolicited, advice.

JOHN HOWARD, FORMER PRIME MINISTER: I think it's always a mistake for a treasurer or indeed a prime minister making a major announcement to start off by saying this is a Labor budget or this is a Liberal budget. This is an occasion when you are talking to all Australians.

TOM IGGULDEN: The budget was beamed live into this Queensland pub, drawing a small crowd.

PUBLICAN: Well it's not exactly the grand final.

TOM IGGULDEN: A promise to spend more on regional health caught the publican's ear.

PUBLICAN: Well I hope it's more than that. I hope they deliver on what that saying they're going to do.

TOM IGGULDEN: Others weren't sold on a plan to bring in an extra 16,000 skilled foreign workers.

VOX POP: I don't really believe in importing skilled trades. I think we should grow our own, basically. And I think that's been lacking for a number of years, to be honest.

TOM IGGULDEN: In the cities, many were simply confused.

VOX POP II: I didn't really follow the detail of it last night, so ...

TOM IGGULDEN: By the time of the Treasurer's budget address to the National Press Club, even the experts were losing interest in the deeper details. Tony Abbott delivers his budget reply tomorrow night and he's making this promise.

TONY ABBOTT: I'm not going to give them some kind of a dull, boring shopping list. I'm not going to do that. You will not get a funereal dirge from me like you got from Wayne Swan last night.

TOM IGGULDEN: Whether it's a dirge or something more dramatic, the Government's challenging Tony Abbott to explain how he can accuse them of being too tough on families on one hand, and too soft on the budget bottom line on the other.